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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. object — an aim
  4. object — a thing
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — not warm
  7. court — of law
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mine — for digging
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. degree — an amount
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com